Skip to main content

New! You can personalise your feed. Try it now

Advertisement

Advertisement

Police slam ‘untrue and irresponsible’ online posts that claim checks by officers were to ‘hit quota’

SINGAPORE — The police have refuted “untrue and irresponsible” online posts by users who asked if officers had carried out checks on two students from a madrasah or Islamic school because “they had a quota to hit”.

The police said that TransCom officers in a photo circulating online were talking to two madrasah students about the Riders-on-Watch scheme.

The police said that TransCom officers in a photo circulating online were talking to two madrasah students about the Riders-on-Watch scheme.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

SINGAPORE — The police have refuted “untrue and irresponsible” online posts by users who asked if officers had carried out checks on two students from a madrasah or Islamic school because “they had a quota to hit”.

Slamming the posts, the police said comments that seek to stir racial sentiments were “uncalled for and unhelpful”.

Setting the record straight in a Facebook post on Tuesday (July 16) night, the police said officers from the Public Transport Security Command (TransCom) were talking to students from Madrasah Al-Ma’arif Al-Islamiah about a crime prevention scheme called Riders-on-Watch. It was launched this month to rally public transport users to keep the system safe.

Volunteers help to keep watch for suspicious behaviour and receive the latest crime information affecting the public transport network, for instance.

“We are happy to share that the two students have signed up as Riders-on-Watch volunteers,” the police said.

The madrasah, located in Geylang, said on Tuesday night that the photo of its students had been “circulated irresponsibly” on social media, with online users speculating about the nature of the interaction.

“We are appalled at the irresponsible circulation of our students’ photo, which had been taken out of context. 

“We would like to appeal to the public to help us in stopping further speculation or irresponsible circulation of the photo, in order to respect the privacy of our students,” the madrasah said.

This is the second time in about a week that TransCom officers have been thrust into the spotlight.

Last week, a video posted to the Facebook group, Complaint Singapore, showed a Malay man talking aggressively to officers from the unit, after he was approached for checks at Bishan MRT Station. The man said he had seen officers approach many Malays for checks, but not those from other races.

The video, which was also posted on other forums, attracted comments from users who recounted their experience being screened by the police. Some said they believed they were picked because of their race.

Rejecting the allegations, the police said they were “untrue, baseless, irresponsible and may stir up racial tensions”, and those who post such remarks online would be dealt with in accordance with the law.

Weighing in on the incidents, Mr Amrin Amin, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs, said that law enforcement was race-blind in Singapore.

“This is precious. Nasty rumours that plant dangerous doubts on the impartiality of our police have to be called out (and) rumour-mongers shamed,” he wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday night.

“I am proud Singaporeans are rational. The truth still has a very high premium here. All, including our Singaporean Malay community, have no hesitation to stand together (and are) united in calling out falsehoods that erode our values.”

Saying these incidents would not be the last, he added: “How we respond defines us and reflects the values we hold dear.”

Related topics

TransCom racism police online posts madrasah Riders-on-Watch

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.